When I was at school, my friend’s family lived in my neighbourhood and were absolutely in love with an extremely sweet, brown-coloured, round fruit. His father had planted two of its trees in the uncovered area of his home.

Following their footsteps, their neighbours across their main door also planted one on the pavement, at the entrance of their house. I remember picking a ripened fruit from the ground and plucking another from the tree, without asking and then running back home, afraid of being caught. I then asked my parents to peel the fruit for me — which I thought was something like kiwi. My father took me back, made me apologise an,d to my delight, we returned with a handful of the selected mature fruit.

When we peeled it, it was nothing like a kiwi. Unlike kiwi, the seeds were neither edible nor small; they were hard-shelled, long, black-coloured and absolutely not to be eaten. Unlike the juicy, light green, fleshy part of the kiwi — which has a subtle sour taste — this fruit had a comparatively dense, brown fleshy part, with a high sweet level, and gave a sort of coarse and grainy feel when tasted. That day was the first time I came across a sapodilla or sapota fruit or, as we know it, the chikoo.

Scientifically known as Manilkara zapota, the chikoo is often confused with mudapples and naseberry. The chikoo is a tropical fruit that is mostly grown in South America, South Asia and South East Asia.

New gardeners should consider planting a chikoo tree as they are relatively easy to maintain

The chikoo tree is usually a medium-sized tree which grows to an average height of 30 to 50 feet, or around roof high for anyone growing it at their house. Its height makes it easier to keep, maintain and harvest for any kitchen gardener growing it at their home.

It is an evergreen tree and continues to grow throughout the year, providing for green environs around the house. It usually provides for fruit twice a year — during winter and then late in the spring months.

Chikoo is a climacteric fruit — fruits that can ripen after being picked. Unripe fruit is not only hard but also unpleasant in taste.

Like any other fruit, the chikoo has many nutritional and health benefits. Filled with vitamins and minerals, this calories-rich fruit is a beneficial resource to replenish energy levels. It promotes digestion and carries all the benefits associated with edibles high in Vitamins A, B and C, which are available in ample quantity. However, one should limit eating this fruit, especially if you’re trying to lose weight or are managing diabetes mellitus.

While it’s not a favourite choice of kitchen gardeners, the chikoo tree can be grown from seed. From germination to the eventual provision of fruit, it requires between five to eight years for its first produce. Many residents in metropolitan areas, therefore, prefer buying small-to medium-sized plants from local nurseries to transplant in an open space in their houses. The grafted trees are also more controlled in height comparatively. We will continue to discuss different plant-growing techniques and propagation methods of chikoo in subsequent articles.

The seeds of chikoo are shiny black in colour and there are multiple seeds in a single fruit. Although it’s best to avoid consuming seeds due to their tough, hard exterior, people do use them in alternative medicine. For planting purposes, the seeds should be sown as soon as the fruit is cut open, within a few weeks of the harvest.

I suggest to always sow the seed of a chikoo in an upright position with the pointy side facing upward. It will help the young seedling germinating from the seed to find its way. The seeds usually germinate in a fortnight to a month.

The chikoo tree, once grown fully, does not seek one’s daily undivided attention. While not ideal, you can get away not watering it even for a week!

It needs generous provision of balanced NPK fertiliser after every three months during the first year and, subsequently, two to three times annually. So, next time if you come across someone being nicknamed chikoo, do know they are likely to be less demanding and as sweet as this amazing fruit can be.

Please send your queries and emails to doctree101@hotmail.com. The writer is a physician and a host for the YouTube channel ‘DocTree Gardening’ promoting organic kitchen gardenin

Published in Dawn, EOS, December 10th, 2023